George Chip

George Chip (Lit. Jurgis Čepulionis, August 25, 1888 – November 6, 1960) was a Lithuanian-American boxer who was the World Middleweight Champion from 1913 to 1914 in an era of great middleweights. Chip came to be known as a heavy puncher with an impressive knockout ratio. In his time, he was known as "The Madison Miner" and "The New Castle Miner." He was the father of Major general William C. Chip, USMC.

Early life and career Chip was born on August 25, 1888, in Scranton but was raised in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in what is today the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where most of his matches occurred. He was of Lithuanian descent. His manager was Jimmy Dime.

He was active in both baseball and football in his youth, and later worked in the coal mines in Madison, Pennsylvania. In January 1909, realizing his athletic gifts at the age of twenty, he decided to try boxing on the advice of L. B. Lewis, a mining Superintendent he knew. He won his first match when Billy Manfredo received a second round disqualification in Greensburgh, Pennsylvania. The following month he knocked out George Gill and John Chew. He continued to fight through 1910 with only one recorded loss.

Frequent bouts with Jack Dillon and "Buck" Crouse

Chip fought the exceptional boxer Jack Dillon over ten times, usually losing to him in the opinions of newspapers. Dillon was an Indiana-born Hall of Famer who held the light heavyweight championship of the world from 1914 to 1916.

Chip fought Pittsburgh area boxer Albert "Buck" Crouse seven times during his career, mostly in no decision bouts, losing to him only once. Though Chip held the title only six months, he is remembered as a boxer who faced most of the serious challengers for the title.

Career after loss of the World Middleweight Title Bout with Jeff Smith, future Australian World Middleweight Champion On December 7, 1915, Chip lost to Jeff Smith, future Australian World Middleweight Champion, in a seventh round disqualification at the Hippodrome in Boston. The New Castle News wrote that Chip was clearly winning the contest when he was disqualified by the referee for a low blow. Some reporters wrote the blow to the torso was not below the belt, and believed Chip was close to winning the bout by knockout.

Bouts with Jimmy Clabby Between November 1914 and May 1915, Chip fought Jimmy Clabby four times. Clabby, an exceptional talent, competed for but never won a world title in his career, though he took the World Middleweight and Light Heavyweight titles of Australia and the Heavyweight Championship of New Zealand. On November 6, 1914, Chip lost a twenty-round bout with Clabby in Daly City, California, outside San Francisco. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Clabby won easily, taking seventeen rounds.

Competing for the Australian World Middleweight Championship On September 30, 1916, Chip fell to a ninth-round knockout from Australian boxer Les Darcy for Australia's World Middleweight Title in Sydney. The Australian fans bet heavily on their national champion, who carried the fight decisively throughout. He followed on November 6, 1916, with an important fourteenth-round knockout victory over American boxer Art Magirl in Melbourne.

Bouts with Middleweight Champions Harry Greb and Mike Gibbons Chip fought the great middleweight Harry Greb four times in his career, losing decisively to Greb on November 19, 1917, in a ten-round bout in Cincinnati, Ohio. On May 22, 1917, Greb beat Chip in an exciting ten round bout before a crowd of 4,000 in Pittsburgh. In two earlier fights in Pennsylvania, Chip beat Greb according to newspapers on June 26, 1916, but received a draw earlier in a closer fight in Pittsburgh in 1915.

Impressive win over Harry Greb In their ten-round no decision bout on June 26, 1916, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, local newspapers agreed that Chip had the decisive edge over Greb in an impressive win. The New Castle Herald gave Chip every round, and the Post gave Greb only three rounds.

Bouts with brothers Mike and Tommy Gibbons In the July 1917 bout between Chip and Gibbons at Wright Field in Youngstown, Ohio, Gibbon's World Middleweight Title was at stake if he lost by knockout. The Washington Post wrote that "Gibbons won all the way". In their slow January, 1919 bout in Duluth, Gibbons defeated Chip by a "wide margin" after returning from fifteen months in the Army. In a faster bout before a substantial crowd in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11, 1919, Chip landed several strong blows but they never fazed Gibbons who had the edge in their fight according to newspapers. Chip also fought Gibbons' brother Tommy Gibbons five times from 1917 to 1919 though he never beat him in the opinion of most newspapers.

Professional boxing record All information in this section is derived from BoxRec, unless otherwise stated.

Official Record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted as a win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions to the win/loss/draw column.

Achievements